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Old November 3, 2013, 04:31 AM   #45
leadcounsel
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Join Date: September 8, 2005
Location: Tacoma, WA
Posts: 2,119
This goes to the larger problem of irresponsible politicians and appointed judges with agendas all ignoring the plain meaning of the Constitution.

As a criminal defense attorney, I've seen abuses time and again; abuses of search and seizure, abuses of forced (often false) confessions, denial of right to counsel, abusive interview/interrogation techniques, etc. People don't realize it, but innocent people DO give false or fed confessions and innocent people are alarmingly convicted for things they did not do ...

The remedy for these abuses is stacked against the accused. It requires deep pockets, zealous attorneys, and lucky breaks in the case.

For instance, lets say that a stop and frisk was totally illegal and there was absolutely NO reason other than profiling for him to be searched. BUT.... evidence of illegal drugs and guns were recovered. Subject is arrested and charges filed. Remedy is for a suppression motion. Knowing that the state will lose its case, it takes a judge with very high degree of integrity to side with the defendant. In my experience, judges are human too and most will find a way to side with the police officer to NOT exclude the evidence so that the government can still prosecute.

Same goes with abuses of right to counsel, custodial interrogation, and on and on and on... even in cases where there is clear abuse, the remedy is to suppress the evidence. Judges, in my experience, are simply reluctant to do that.

I've had a lot of clients where the searches and seizures or even statements obtained were in violation of 4th and 5th Amendment rights, but the evidence obtained was incriminating. The judge knows the entire case goes away if he agrees with the defendant, so the judges find a way to rule in favor of the prosecution. Thus - the ends justify the means and the government slowly grows more powerful and more bold and erodes the Constitution little by little...
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